ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10)—On World AIDS Day, December 1, protesters caravanned down State Street in Albany. They passed by twice, honking horns outside of the Capitol to let Governor Cuomo know that they are not happy with the progress of his commitment to eliminate the AIDS epidemic in New York State by 2020.

In 2014 a 64-member task force was appointed to develop a blueprint for Governor Cuomo’s commitment to end the AID epidemic by 2020. In 2015 the Governor accepted the blueprint and called for full implementation according to task force leaders.

“As a member of the original Ending the Epidemic Task Force and a person with AIDS, I am truly frightened that the Department of Health and Governor, who have been longtime champions of those in need, are destroying our safety net resources at a time when we need them the most,” said Perry Junjulas, Executive Director of the Albany Damien Center.

Governor Cuomo announced Tuesday on World AIDS Day that data from 2019 shows that New York has “bent the curve” on the HIV epidemic with new cases falling to a new all-time low of 1,700.

“HIV incidence has declined each year since we started the End the Epidemic campaign – 38 percent decrease over that timeframe, so that is extraordinarily good news, and we’re going to continue to work on that,” said Governor Cuomo in a statement Tuesday. “Now more than ever, with states facing steep deficits as a result of COVID, the federal government must provide funding so we can continue supporting the lifesaving work of HIV/AIDS service providers.”